Saturday, February 23, 2013

Packers turning to Texas A&M for advice on how to defend read-option

In last month's playoff loss to the 49ers, the Green Bay Packers gave up a total of 579 yards. Most of those yards came off the notorious read-option offense, an offense that the Packers can't seem to defend. In an interview with NFL.com, Packers coach Mike McCarthy said that the number 579 still haunts him.

"That's a number that will stick in our focus as a defense throughout the offseason," McCarthy said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "We're studying the read-option. ... Actually our defensive staff is going to take a trip to Texas A&M. (Coach) Kevin Sumlin is someone I have great respect for. With his ability to share, both the offensive side and the defensive side, his experience with the read-option.
"It's something from a preparation standpoint we will grow as a staff and be better prepared for in the future."

While running the read-option in that playoff game, 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick threw for 263 yards, ran for 181, and scored a total of four touchdowns in the second half alone. Just seeing those numbers is all the explanation I need to understand why the Pack are asking advice from a college team.

1 comment:

While it's obvious that the Packers have a problem on defense that they need to address, in some ways this is business as usual for the coaches in the offseason. There always seems to be a point of emphasis mentioned by Mike McCarthy in the offseason that they're going to work on in training camp.